How to Start a Charcoal Barbecue

Get your barbecue started right.

Barbecue enthusiasts swear by charcoal grills over propane grills: Charcoal burns hotter, does not impart any chemical taste, and is more versatile when it comes to cooking meat. For backyard barbecue chefs, starting a charcoal fire in a grill can be the most intimidating part of the afternoon. It doesn't have to be though. Investing in a charcoal chimney is the best thing you can do, but even if you're stuck with lighter fluid, you can get the coals going without imparting that chemical taste.

Things You'll Need

• Briquettes or lumps
• Lighter fluid or charcoal chimney
• Long matches
• Suede barbecue mitt
• Barbecue rake

Instructions

Lighter Fluid

1. Arrange the charcoal in a mound in the center of the bottom rack of the grill.

2. Douse the charcoal with fluid, away from any open flame. Seal the fluid and move it away from the grill.

3. Light the charcoal with a long match. Never pour lighter fluid back on charcoal that you have already lit.

4. Allow the charcoal to burn until they're covered in gray ash. This will ensure any petroleum from the fluid has burned off.

Chimney

1. Wad up two pages of newspaper and wrap them around the edges of the bottom of the chimney, like a doughnut, one on top of the other. The hole in the center will allow air to come through and fuel the charcoal fire.

2. Set the chimney down on the bottom grate, and add the required number of charcoal. For a standard meal using direct heat, you'll need about 50 briquettes.

3. Light the newspaper with a match through the sides of the chimney. You'll know the coals caught fire when smoke starts billowing out of the top of the chimney.

4. Wait about 15 to 20 minutes, or until you see that all the coals in the chimney are uniformly lit and the same ashen color.

5. Put on your barbecue mitt, grab the chimney by the handle and dump the coals out onto the bottom grate. Spread the coals on the grate. For direct grilling, you can use the two-zone configuration. In the two-zone model, the charcoals are evenly spread across two-thirds of the bottom of the grate. The area without coals is the cool area, where you can keep meats off direct heat. For indirect heating, use a barbecue rake to spread the coals around the side of the grill, leaving the middle area clear.

Tips & Warnings

• You can test the temperature of your grill without a thermometer. Steve Raichlen, author of "The Barbecue Bible," recommends the Mississippi test. Hold you hand about 3 inches over the grill. If you can only hold it for "One Mississippi," it's very hot, "Two" or "Three Mississippi," hot, "Four" or "Five Mississippi," medium-hot, and so on.

• Lighter fluid will kill you if you drink it

• Cooking your food in a big cloud of lighter fluid choke smoke can't be good

References

• "The Barbecue Bible"; Steven Raichlen; 2008